Every 12 hours, someone is shot and killed by a current or former intimate partner in the United States.
In the United States, firearms are the weapons of choice for domestic violence homicides. In fact, female intimate partners are more likely to be murdered with a gun than all other means combined.
When an abuser has access to a firearm, domestic violence becomes lethal.
A woman is five times more likely to be murdered when her abuser has access to a firearm. When a firearm is used in a domestic violence situation in any way, it creates trauma that will stay with a person for the rest of their life – even if no shots were fired. Gun laws that protect victims of domestic abuse are among the most important public safety laws in this country. Everyone is safer when abusers don’t have access to firearms. That’s why we're fighting so hard to keep guns out of dangerous hands, protect our common-sense gun laws, and pass even more.
Underlying Domestic Abuse in Family Homicides and Mass Shootings
According to FBI data, of the 961 homicides involving family (or "familicides") between 2000 and 2007, virtually all were carried out with firearms. Most mass shootings associated with domestic violence are acts of familicide. But other mass shootings that appear to be unrelated to domestic violence on the surface were committed by those with domestic violence histories. Several perpetrators of school shootings — including in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL — have histories of teen dating violence. Other high-profile mass shootings have also been committed by perpetrators with records of domestic violence. For example, the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando that left 49 people dead was perpetrated by a man who physically abused his ex-wife throughout their marriage. The Sutherland Springs church shooter who shot and killed 26 people had been charged with assaulting his wife and toddler stepson.
of mass shooting events in the U.S. between 2014-2019 were either domestic violence attacks or perpetrated by those with a history of domestic violence.
Domestic violence disproportionately impacts marginalized communities
Underserved populations across the country — including Black and Indigenous women, women younger than 20 years old, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community — face disproportionately higher rates of domestic violence involving guns.
The dangerous effects of firearms in the home of a domestic abuser cannot be ignored. The mere presence of a firearm is a key factor influencing the process that turns abusive partners into killers. The statistics are devastating:
- Every 12 hours, someone in America is shot and killed by a current or former intimate partner.
- One-third of women and one-quarter of men in the U.S. are victims of physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner during their lifetime.
- Every year, around 10 million people in this country experience domestic violence – including hundreds who are shot and killed by their current or former domestic partner.
- Every year, 556 women are killed by a husband or male dating partner with a gun — an average of one woman every 16 hours.
- Between 2019-2021, the number of intimate partner homicides involving a firearm increased by 28%, which coincided with the rapid increase in firearm purchases between 2020-2021.
- Black women are disproportionately the victims of fatal domestic violence with firearms, accounting for 30% of women shot and killed by a husband or intimate acquaintance in 2020, and are also twice as likely to be killed by a spouse, and four times more likely to be killed by a dating partner, than white women.
- In 2020 alone, over 21,000 people convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor or subjected to a domestic violence restraining order were blocked from completing an unlawful firearms transaction by the Brady Background Check System.
- Inadequacies in the available records allowed domestic abusers to pass background checks and obtain guns at least 6,700 times between 2006 and 2015.
- In America, 60% of mass shooting events between 2014 and 2019 were either domestic violence attacks or perpetrated by those with a history of domestic violence.
- The use of guns in domestic violence homicides increases the risk of multiple victims by 70.9%. In non-domestic violence homicides, this likelihood is increased by only 38.7%.
Children and Armed Domestic Abusers
Children face unique risks of gun-related domestic violence. For children under age 13 who are victims of gun homicides, 85% of those deaths occur in the home, and nearly one-third of those deaths are connected to intimate partner or family violence. Between 2015 and 2022, nearly 2 in 3 child and teen victims of mass shootings died in incidents connected to domestic violence. Additionally, 40% of victims in domestic violence mass shootings are children. The consequences of witnessing family gun violence are severe and long-lasting for children, with trauma often extending into adulthood.
Federal laws working to disarm domestic abusers
There is overwhelming public support for gun safety laws that prevent abusers from accessing guns. The vast majority of Americans — 83% — favor a federal law that bans domestic abusers from purchasing a gun. Among all gun safety measures, gun owners are most likely to support laws prohibiting gun possession by domestic abusers, with 77% supporting laws that prohibit gun possession by those subject to a domestic violence restraining order.
Existing federal laws around guns and domestic violence have been effective in protecting families where a court has determined that there is a threat of danger. Historically, our nation’s laws have long prohibited individuals who are a risk of harming themselves or others from possessing firearms in the interest of public safety. Under federal law, those subject to a qualifying domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) cannot legally possess a firearm. This law includes procedural safeguards, ensuring domestic abusers are only disarmed after receiving notice and the opportunity to participate in a hearing before a judge. Research shows that laws restricting firearm purchases for individuals subject to DVROs are associated with a 10% reduction in rates of intimate homicide of women and a 13% reduction in rates of intimate homicide of women with firearms.
Additionally, those convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence that involves the use or attempted use of force are prevented from possessing a firearm under federal law. This statute, known as the “Lautenberg Amendment,” was found by a 2017 Stanford University study to have resulted in a 17% drop in murders of intimate female partners.